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Ok I fess up... posted this because it mentions Georgia Southern but we were FCS when the referenced game was played. Would love to see Chuck South rattle the Alabama defenses confidence a bit.

It is always nice to see a coach from a P-5 conference and a program as storied as Alabama remind the press that just because a team might be FCS doesn't mean its weak team that can be overlooked.

Wazzoo got that wake-up call the first game of the season.

Saban respects winning teams regardless of division. He knows they'll beat CSU by a lot. But he'll approach them like they're LSU and demand his players do the same. That consistency is why he's among the 2 or 3 best in the game.

Of course Saban is going to rattle chains. Playing a FCS team in late November when you're trying to make the playoffs isn't exactly ideal. If Oklahoma knocks off TCU & Okie St keeps winning the push for them to jump teams ahead of them will strengthen.

bluehenbillk wrote:Of course Saban is going to rattle chains. Playing a FCS team in late November when you're trying to make the playoffs isn't exactly ideal.

Yeah, you guys who think Saban is doing this because he actually feels this way are fools. He is doing this for the benefit of Alabama.

89Hen wrote:

bluehenbillk wrote:Of course Saban is going to rattle chains. Playing a FCS team in late November when you're trying to make the playoffs isn't exactly ideal.

Yeah, you guys who think Saban is doing this because he actually feels this way are fools. He is doing this for the benefit of Alabama.

Yup, he's doing all he can to make sure the committee doesn't penalize him for, as the SEC is often doing, playing weak teams down the stretch.

I think he'll be fine, though. If the playoff remains the way it is today, the committee would likely move Alabama or Ohio St ahead of Clemson to avoid a Clemson/ND rematch in the semifinals and to avoid a Bama/Ohio St rematch until the title game. Bama and Ohio St are probably the two best teams anyway.

When you're in the SEC, you don't need to worry about your strength of schedule. Alabama has one loss and if they were to lose to Florida they are likely still out no matter who they beat out of conference.

Pwns wrote:When you're in the SEC, you don't need to worry about your strength of schedule. Alabama has one loss and if they were to lose to Florida they are likely still out no matter who they beat out of conference.

Yup - if Alabama wins out, they are in. If they lose to Florida, it gets real dicey.

GannonFan wrote:

89Hen wrote: Yeah, you guys who think Saban is doing this because he actually feels this way are fools. He is doing this for the benefit of Alabama.

Yup, he's doing all he can to make sure the committee doesn't penalize him for, as the SEC is often doing, playing weak teams down the stretch.

I think he'll be fine, though. If the playoff remains the way it is today, the committee would likely move Alabama or Ohio St ahead of Clemson to avoid a Clemson/ND rematch in the semifinals and to avoid a Bama/Ohio St rematch until the title game. Bama and Ohio St are probably the two best teams anyway.

Id love a Clemson/ND REMATCH. ND should've won, they were playing in the middle of a serious storm. They were doing well in the 4th, but it was too late.

Saban has not only been through coaching that Georgia Southern game but coaching highly favored teams that lost to big underdogs. Not to I-AA/FCS teams but to teams that were basically equivalent in caliber to upper level I-AA/FCS teams. I can remember driving through Tennessee on a trip during 2000 listening to a sports talk show where the guys were predicting what would happen in SEC games and one thing they were REALLY sure of was that Saban's LSU team was going to blow out UAB. UAB's first two games were a 20-15 win over I-AA Tennessee Chattanooga and a 20-23 loss to Kansas. Guess what happened? UAB beat LSU 13-10.

BTW that Tennessee Chattanooga team UAB barely beat finished 5-6. In the Sagarin Ratings UAB finished behind three I-AA teams.

Then there was Saban's Alabama team losing to Louisiana Monroe in 2007. No, that was not a good Alabama team and he was just starting . But Louisiana Monroe finished behind 11 FCS teams in the Sagarin ratings.

The point isn't that Sagarin ratings are exactly correct. It's that Saban has experienced losing to teams that are I-AA/FCS in caliber while he's been coaching elite programs.

Here's what's even most impressive. Was probably the best defense in the history of college football. They were absolutely LOADED.
Bama on the season gave up only 8.2 ppg/72 ypg rushing.
vs GSU 21 pts/302 yds rushing
In their other 13 games: about 7.2 ppg/49 ypg rushing.

Here's what they gave up rushing:
MINUS 9 Kent ST
107 #23 Penn State
68 N TX
17 #14 Ark
15 #12 UF
41 Vandy
28 Miss
92 Tenn
148 #1 LSU
12 Miss St
302 GSU
78 Auburn
39 #1 LSU
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